China Readying 1st Moon Rover for Launch This Year, will also be watched by NASA's LRO - Polidicks

[QUOTE]As three Chinese astronauts zip around the Earth aboard a prototype space station, the country is gearing up to launch its first moon rover in the coming months.China's robotic Chang'e 3 mission, reportedly slated to blast off toward the end of 2013, marks a big step forward in the nation's lunar exploration program. Chang'e 3 will become China's first craft to attempt a soft landing and rover deployment on the surface of [URL="http://www.space.com/55-earths-moon-formation-composition-and-orbit.html"]the moon[/URL]. China’s multi-phase moon venture began with the orbiters Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2, which launched in 2007 and 2010, respectively. Now Chinese space program officials are ready to shift to phase two. [B]...[/B]Last month, media outlets in China reported that final testing has begun on the [URL="http://www.space.com/14199-china-targets-2013-launch-lunar-landing.html"]Chang'e 3 probe[/URL] (which, like the other Chang'e spacecraft, takes its name from the nation's mythical moon goddess). According to a statement from the China National Space Administration, the nation carried out a 40-day ground test to mimic the lunar environment, in an attempt to make sure that Chang’e 3 can endure the extreme temperatures on the moon. As noted by [URL="http://dragoninspace.com/"]Dragon in Space[/URL], a website that monitors China's space program, the Chang'e 3 lunar probe consists of two main parts: [B]a service module and a lunar landing vehicle[/B]. Dragon in Space reports the mission will be launched this December. The probe would land softly on the moon’s surface and deploy a six-wheeled rover to explore the areas surrounding the landing spot. [B]... [/B]"It is gratifying to finally see an exploration vehicle landing on the moon," said Mark Robinson of Arizona State University, the principal investigator for the high-powered Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. "It has been 40 years since [the Soviet Union's] Lunokhod 2. And there is much to see and do." "It will certainly be fun to watch their progress from 100 kilometers above. The moon is a complicated and mysterious world," Robinson told SPACE.com. [B]... [/B][/QUOTE] [b]Source[/b], with some talk about Chang'e 5, a sample return mission: [URL]http://news.yahoo.com/china-readying-1st-moon-rover-launch-193901386.html[/URL] The landing site: [URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinus_Iridum[/URL] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/OgZ2Inz.jpg[/IMG] The lander and the tiny rover on top during thermal vacuum testing: [IMG]http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/spacecraft/20130509_CE3002_f537.jpg[/IMG] Source: [url]http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/05090823-change-3-undergoing-thermal.html[/url]

Cool! Can't wait to see the pictures of the launch and to hear from all the cool stuff they discover!

Space Race, please!

[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;41529830]Space Race, please![/QUOTE] The US has probes on Mars and has landed men on the moon, China has decades to catch up

[QUOTE=Zambies!;41530129]The US has probes on Mars and has landed men on the moon, China has decades to catch up[/QUOTE] Yea, but it's cute that they are trying.

[QUOTE=Zambies!;41530129]The US has probes on Mars and has landed men on the moon, China has decades to catch up[/QUOTE] But a Space Race is what we need to progress further in that field. I don't think politicians will take Hawkins deadline seriously and I don't want to study Aerospace engineering for nothing.

[QUOTE=Zambies!;41530129]The US has probes on Mars and has landed men on the moon, China has decades to catch up[/QUOTE] Yeah, their budget is pretty small as well. So their main focus right now and 10 years from now is finishing the space station and getting people on the moon.

It should be interesting to see what they discover out there. The Indian space program is also going quite well, with a mars orbiter scheduled for October. I kinda wish all countries could run a space program together, pool our limited resources and explore the stars not as people from imaginary parcels of land, but as the vanguard of the best and brightest of our species.

[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;41529830]Space Race, please![/QUOTE] its kinda hard to have a race when one contestant starts on the finishing line.

[QUOTE=codemaster85;41530465]its kinda hard to have a race when one contestant starts on the finishing line.[/QUOTE] Given the vastness of space we have a fraction of a millisecond head start. That is all.

[QUOTE=Commando1234;41531952]Given the vastness of space we have a fraction of a millisecond head start. That is all.[/QUOTE] This comment actually changed my worldview slightly.

[QUOTE=Zambies!;41530129]The US has probes on Mars and has landed men on the moon, China has decades to catch up[/QUOTE] That's true, but China has made 20-30 years worth of progress in the past 10 years, if the next Space Race doesn't start now, it'll start in the next decade.